The Chicago Cubs will need dominating pitcher Jake Arrieta to bring out his inner bear when taking on Gerrit Cole and the Pittsburgh Pirates in Wednesday night's NL Wild Card Game—what is sure to be a hard-fought, low-scoring affair.
The Cubs, parched after ages of championship drought, have cobbled together an impressive season despite—or perhaps thanks to—a young lineup. The Pirates, in a similar situation two seasons ago, enter as the more seasoned group. Both teams find themselves entering the postseason with one of the three best records in the majors, yet neither have spent considerable time as the MLB's marquee teams.
As some have pointed out, including these two squads, this season's pennant race consists of some atypical contenders:
Unusual, particularly in this instance, does not mean unappealing. Fans and analysts alike have shown a keen interest in this one-game matchup which many believe will be an insufficient showcase of these two squads:
One fan, and likely many more, is even altering his health habits in his pursuit to see this contest:
More than any other baseball game, this one will be won or lost by the right arms of starting pitchers Arrieta and Cole:
To get a better sense of exactly the kind of gunslinging talent we're working with, check out Fox Sports MLB's breakdown of their performances when facing each other this season:
Arrieta is almost undeniably the single greatest reason why the championship-ailing Cubs are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. With the Cy Young Award contender leading the charge, Chicago enters this matchup with droves of momentum.
In fact, it's a historical amount of momentum:
Perhaps it's the reason that Arrieta is so confident heading into battle.
According to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat, the ace pitcher said that his opposition is a team he's "comfortable with analyzing, scouting and pitching against."
He added that the Pirates have "an extremely balanced group of guys in that order who can make a lot of things happen," but that he feels "confident I can neutralize a lot of their power, a lot of their speed guys with different sequences."
"I intend to have some pretty good success," Arrieta said.
He took to Twitter to convey an even stronger message of confidence:
The Pirates are the owners of the preferred matchup statistic, however:
Despite this, Cole, by contrast, has been more reserved in his pregame predictions.
In a statement reported by the AP (h/t CBS Chicago), the Pittsburgh pitcher stated that “there’s a lot of luck involved" in these playoff contests. Of the other factors, Cole said, "there’s a lot of little details that matter. And the team that takes care of those the best comes out on top usually.”
As one fan pointed out, the key to both teams' success will be besting these blue-chip pitchers:
In essence, then, the men braving their bruising throws at the plate may be most important. For tonight, those players will be:
While the order that they'll be taking to the plate has changed, certain things likely won't.
Take Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, for example. Facing Cole, Chicago will need to see that he continues to produce at this high a level:
However, according to USA Today baseball columnist Bob Nightengale, much like his teammate, Rizzo isn't concerned:
On the flip side, the Pirates will rely on center fielder Andrew McCutchen to put some wear on Arrieta's arm.
Pirate's catcher Francisco Cervelli clearly feels that he's up to the task:
After scrapping through what will no doubt be a grueling nine innings, the winner of this contest will be rewarded with a challenging series against the division rival St. Louis Cardinals, who, according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch, have made their starting pitcher selection for Friday's game:
In regard to Wednesday night's showdown, like IGN says, there will be no personal biases. However, riding Arrieta's hot hand, the Cubs look mighty ferocious. And besides, everyone already knows this one has been decided for years:
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